February 2009
La Petite Mort Gallery presents…
JENNIFER CAMPBELL / Paintings
One Month Exhibit
February 6 – 29, 2009
Vernissage: Friday February 6 / 7 – 10pm
In collaboration with Dharma Arts
www.dharmaarts.ca
Join us for Dharma Arts’ presence at Jennifer Campbell’s Exhibit of paintings at La Petite Mort Gallery, in collaboration with Dharma Arts.
High brow, low brow: you will surely raise your eyebrows at what LPM is exhibiting next!
On February 6th 2009, La Petite Mort Gallery invites art lovers of all types to take a peek at its latest exhibit. Jennifer Campbell, Ottawa artist and ‘culture collector’ has created a series of paintings which explore the connection between popular culture and high art.
Her paintings are unique in that they bring together subjects which have historically been categorized as low brow (often cartoon characters or advertisements) with subjects which have traditionally been categorized as academic (often the human figure). They are a combination of the high and low – both in terms of the subject painted as well as the style used to represent the figures – and they activate a necessary dialogue about the interactive relationship between pop culture and art.
Written by Xan Woods, Special Events Co-ordinator
Proudly sponsored by CKCU 93.1 FM
Artist Statement:
“Anxieties of self-image pervade the relationship between artist and sitter. My art embraces these anxieties. In so doing, it examines many layers of personal identity. Peeling back these layers, I try to shed light on how we see ourselves, on how others see us and on what we aspire to be. The more I explore, the more I uncover. That is why I collect; why I am influenced by the images that I gather every day; why all the things I love folk, pop and gothic art, movies, advertising, catalogues and fabrics find their way into my paintings.” Jennifer Campbell, 2009
INTERVIEW WITH DHARMA ARTS:
Written by Shannon Beahen
‘When friends and parents nag, “what are you going to do with a sociology degree?”, perhaps the worst answer you can give them is, “make art from it”. But that’s exactly what Jen Campbell did with her education. And if she’s lucky it could prove to be a full time career. For three years now, she’s settled for a part time job at Blood Services devoting the rest of her time to painting. “I have to treat it like a job, if I want to make a living from it”.
The work is paying off. Still a vernissage virgin, Jen has enough completed paintings that she’s quickly running out of storage space in her 2-storey home near Chinatown. “I wanted to wait until I had a larger body of work before thinking about a show,” she explains. And so, Jen has finally entered into talks with local curators – one in particular – who might be edgy enough to host her first showing of work. Work that she worries might be “unpalatable to the public at large.”
Jen has little to fear though. Her piece “The Shopper” was a finalist in The Kingston Prize competition. We ask why the trepidation? And Jen says, “Well it’s not really art you hang above your couch […] I like things that are ugly”. Now, if by ugly, she means reflective of our collective cultural reality, we might be inclined to agree. Here’s where the sociology degree comes in. Jen is fascinated by humans – and lately, their consumption habits and response to mass media. Think of this latest collection as our local answer to Warhol with a bit more attention to gender politics. “It’s a re-appropriation of objects in advertising and pop culture […] I’m not so much criticizing them as I’m making an observation and playing with their meaning.” Bowie t-shirts, Ikea ads, Louis Vuitton bags, panties and petty pot-bellies make up just some of her subject matter.
Intrigued yet? We descend upon the unknown artist with the assumption that if any of our readers share our tastes, her work won’t be a secret for long’. 2008
Thank you,
Guy Berube, director
La Petite Mort Gallery